$300 to fill a vest (hypothetical)

[Spitten and drummen]

Wynne persimmon slate
Halloran twisted sister
Stucky macassar And ebony strikers
Lynch fool proof box
A Dustin jones glass glass in padauk
300 bucks and ready to kill any turkey walking.

[Deast1988]

Hanks Ceramic $75
Mark Cornelius 2 sider cherry glass over slate $65
Palmers hoot tube/ Synthetic Hoot n Stick $20
Tom Teaser Crow $25
Purple Heart Tom Teaser Box $60

[Marc]

I carry a couple of box calls, an SS and Pittman 2-face (together about $100)
Lonnie Gilbert scratcher at about $40; heck make it 2 at $80...
An assortment of mouth calls (I like Hook's and Gooserbat) for another $30-40
Gobble call at $15

Spend the other $65 on gas for scouting new areas....

[wcerin]

Cody Woodsman Slate
Halloran Twisted Sister or Crystal Mistress
Enticer Rolling Thunder (Wet Call)
Hooks Executioner Mouth Call
Basehore Cedar scratch box

[Double B]

Mouth calls $25 I like lost lake or xt
$75 wing bone bent creek
$50 spring creek box
$65 ceramic flipsider misfire or olins
$35 Enticer feather touch glass
$15 Enticer double trouble alum
$35 power slate Enticer
Skip the locator

[drenalinld]

Basehore scratch box
Darren Dawkins plastic pots stoned aluminum and crystal
Whitt square box
Hooks mouth calls




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[GobbleNut]

With all due respect to the fine call makers mentioned, and to those not mentioned, I would take a completely different approach to this.

The first thing I would do is to find the nearest local source/store with an adequate assortment of turkey calls of various brands.  Again, assuming that the hunter in question does indeed have a fundamental understanding of turkey calling and the sounds he is trying to achieve with his calls, and that the store would let him try out the calls available (excluding mouth-operated calls, of course), I would tell him to run calls until he found at least one box and one pot that he liked,...perhaps an additional pot call of a different surface.  (anticipated cost of three chosen calls...$75 to $100)
If the store had a selection of striker types (wood, carbon, metal, synthetic), I would tell him to buy another half-dozen strikers of various types...(anticipated cost...$50 or less)
Friction call surface prep kit (or gather the different components)...$10
Crow call (prerequisite that it be loud)...$20
Tube call and spare tube call latex....$20
Mouth calls,...(if he has some experience using them and knows how to make reasonable turkey sounds),...buy a half dozen inexpensive calls of varying reeds and cuts....$30   
...Buy an additional half dozen calls with no cuts (and learn how to cut/tune mouth calls),....$30
Mouth calls,...(if he does not know how to run a mouth call, or is not good with one)....make sure he has someone that can tell him what to buy to learn on, and then have him buy two or three calls (and tell him to never run the calls while hunting until he has developed some basic skills with them)....$15

Total cost:  $250 (approx.)  Use the other $50 to shop around for a "bonus" call or two.

[Alberta Jonny]

With all due respect to the fine call makers mentioned, and to those not mentioned, I would take a completely different approach to this.

The first thing I would do is to find the nearest local source/store with an adequate assortment of turkey calls of various brands.  Again, assuming that the hunter in question does indeed have a fundamental understanding of turkey calling and the sounds he is trying to achieve with his calls, and that the store would let him try out the calls available (excluding mouth-operated calls, of course), I would tell him to run calls until he found at least one box and one pot that he liked,...perhaps an additional pot call of a different surface.  (anticipated cost of three chosen calls...$75 to $100)
If the store had a selection of striker types (wood, carbon, metal, synthetic), I would tell him to buy another half-dozen strikers of various types...(anticipated cost...$50 or less)
Friction call surface prep kit (or gather the different components)...$10
Crow call (prerequisite that it be loud)...$20
Tube call and spare tube call latex....$20
Mouth calls,...(if he has some experience using them and knows how to make reasonable turkey sounds),...buy a half dozen inexpensive calls of varying reeds and cuts....$30   
...Buy an additional half dozen calls with no cuts (and learn how to cut/tune mouth calls),....$30
Mouth calls,...(if he does not know how to run a mouth call, or is not good with one)....make sure he has someone that can tell him what to buy to learn on, and then have him buy two or three calls (and tell him to never run the calls while hunting until he has developed some basic skills with them)....$15

Total cost:  $250 (approx.)  Use the other $50 to shop around for a "bonus" call or two.

Solid advise

[kjnengr]

Yeha the hypothetical was more under the assumption that the hunter can run whatevers on the list. And yes I would have went with some hooks but kept it to the multiple calls from one place.

Although I found scratch boxes to be one of the easiest to run calls I understsnd its not the same for everyone.

My list would be very similar to yours Tauntohawk. 

I would probably go with a Gooserbat or Hooks mouth call though.

And truthfully, for someone just starting out, I would probably drop one of the pots and the scratcher until they got a season under their belt.  Too many calls might present more problems for a hunter just starting out instead of adding versatility. 

Save that money and put it into gas for scouting and boots on the ground info.

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Good thinking. And very valid points.

Lots of good info in this thread.

[adkmountainken]

send him straight to Ernie Fetters and for $300 Ernie could make you several different calls!

[TauntoHawk]

send him straight to Ernie Fetters and for $300 Ernie could make you several different calls!

I got my first fetter coming

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